Hi everyone. It’s been a bit of a rough week, made more so because I just hit the big “4-0″ – ugh. So, quickly to a few thrift finds:

I actually took my mom along this week on the usual thriftrun. Funny, I always seem to find more when she’s along – or it could just be that I tend to buy more LOL. I found 9 of these Denby Chevron cups – 6 of the smaller and 3 of the mug size. They have a great midcentury feel to them, and I know folks like ‘em – but I might’ve passed on another day. Just takes up a lot of room, and they’re really heavy.

Mom thought these cup and saucer sets were from Japan, but they’re actually Ken Edwards from Mexico. I probably should’ve passed on these even more than the Denby – I ended up coming home with TEN cup and saucer sets. We debated getting them for so long, that it started to attract attention at the thrift – other thrifters really pick up on this, like sharks sniffing blood in the water haha! The bird design is really great, and we might keep a few sets. Interesting that half of these are the Palomar ones, and the other half aren’t. The former seem to be of heavier construction.

Cute little Takahashi teapot, that I probably made a mistake picking up. It was just hard to pass because it had a sticker and no damage. I know there are quite a few already on Etsy, so it’s gonna be tough to compete on there. Might be bound for the main shop.

I knew right away this Pyrex carafe with cork ball might be worth picking up, having seen some of the other Thriftbreak folks carry them in their Etsy shops. This was probably the only item I didn’t hesitate at all on grabbing.

Lastly, I couldn’t pass up these fun Swedish square wooden candleholders. I’m curious on the age of these – the wood is definitely nothing special, but it does look like it has a little age. I was guessing 1970s. They’re marked “Made in Sweden” on the bottom with a number. Anyone seen these before?

Alright, I’ve got some more thrifted items in the backlog, along with a funny thrift story or two that’s going to have to wait until next week. Happy thrifting until then!

This post is linked up to ATG’s Thrift Share Monday and HLA’s Flea Market Finds.

Did you find something cool at a thrift or flea market lately?
Please leave a comment here if so…

Hi everyone. We’ve had some decent luck lately at the thrifts, although we continue to bring home fewer items per trip. I think it’s partly that the thrifts are a little barren, and that we’re being more selective in our purchases for the shops. I need to convince myself that this is a GOOD thing – since we still have boxes of unlisted inventory to sort through!

I believe these 4 Mexican figurines are part of a nativity set, designed by Jorge Wilmot. There were a few more pieces at the thrift, but I didn’t get them because they were broken. I’ve been planning on getting more familiar with Mexican and Latin-American artists and designers, because we come across stuff by them often. Personally, I guess I’m not as much into the “traditional” work like these, but I know there’s a lot of Mexican artists whose work was more modern. Anyone know of good resources for vintage modern Mexican design?

I nearly left this Jaru vase at the thrift, because it didn’t have any markings. I had a suspicion that it was California pottery, from the brown painted bisque portion of the piece. I was thinking either Brayton, Treasure Craft or Jaru. When I got home, I removed part of the felt and was happy to see an original Jaru paper sticker underneath. I don’t know the line, but have seen a few different Jaru pieces like this – probably circa 60s-70s.

This is the 2nd time I’ve come across a Gladding McBean tile trivet that I think is a newer production. I’m not sure on the date, but I know it’s not one of the older, much more valuable tiles they made. It has a nice, stylized bird depiction on it, though.. I’m guessing 1970s or 80s. Anyone know if they still make this type of tile trivet?

I went to the flea market last week, but didn’t have much luck. Increasingly, it’s difficult to pick flea markets – so I’ve told myself I’m not there to shop for the store, but just to enjoy the market. However, I did pick up this scarce Howard Pierce porcelain bowl. It was a bit chippy, but I couldn’t pass it up. You hardly ever see a color scheme like this for Pierce, and almost never serving/dinnerware items. The feel and look of this bowl is very much like his mentor, William Manker‘s work.

I totally thought this was a Stoneware Designs West piece at first, but it turns out it’s from Denmark! This was made by Ole Christensen Keramik and I’m still trying to find out more about the company and when it was active. It’s very curious, we’ve seen other Danish ceramics companies who made a very similar form. We’re wondering which came first – the SDW items or the Danish items?

Lastly, this gorgeous teak bowl was a lucky find at a thrift I rarely visit. I almost passed it, thinking it was a newer piece from Thailand. Even so, I didn’t see any marks on it but I decided to take a chance. When I got home, I was happy to see a faint triangle with “G. Ehrenreich Denmark” inside. I was a bit confused because that seems like an unusual Danish name. I thought the maker might be Hans Gustav Ehrenreich, furniture designer and creator of those Hoptimist toys. However, I’m not 100% sure – anyone familiar with the name? I’ve seen a few other wooden items online with the same triangle mark, all teak products like trays and boxes.

OK, hope you’ve had good luck at the thrifts. Happy St. Patty’s!

This post is linked up to ATG’s Thrift Share Monday and HLA’s Flea Market Finds.

Did you find something cool at a thrift or flea market lately?
Please leave a comment here if so…

Hi everyone. I decided to write up an early post since we might be unavailable over the weekend. Let’s get right to the finds, many of which are from last week:

This Pacific Stoneware funny-face mug was actually a pickup from an antique store in Pomona. We happened to be in Pomona to check out the AMOCA Pacific Standard Time exhibit on ceramics in Southern California. Wonderful exhibit, by the way… probably will put pics from the exhibit up later. Back to the mug – not sure what line this is. Pacific Stoneware is Bennett Welsh’s company from the 1970s.

This super cute tiger mug is by Himark from Japan, and dates to the 70s. We’ve found a few pieces in this line which is called “Jungle Safari” and is designed by “Saltera”. I haven’t figured out if that’s a secondary company, a person, or what yet. Unfortunately, I found out when I got home that the mug had a hairline, so we’ll be keeping it to use.

A long, vibrant Vera Neumann scarf with a sort of weird splotchy design. After a long drought for Vera items over the Fall, we seem to be finding them more often. By the way, Crate and Barrel is carrying a few items like dishtowels, aprons and bowls with Vera designs – these items are made in either India or China, and we sure hope they’re marked respectively so people won’t think they’re vintage…

I hit an estate sale a few streets away from us last week. There were tons of owl figurines – apparently the lady was a big collector of owls. But I only came away with the ones above. Two Mexican folk art style owls, and a nice Ken Edwards owl.

At the same sale, I picked up this Dansk cat paperweight. Apparently, the lady ALSO collected cats as there were tons of them. This was the only one worth getting, however. I’m not sure if it’s still being made or not, but it looks awfully new.

Last up – I’d been looking for a desk lamp to use, so I was happy to find this plastic and metal telescopic lamp from Germany today. Sorry for the photo, it was getting dark out already. It sort of reminds me of the Michael Lax Lytegem. When I picked up the lamp, I looked at the plug and it was non-polarized… so I assumed it was pre-1980s. However, it has a halogen bulb and I usually associate that with newer lamps (like those sold at IKEA, etc.)

The company is MKB GmbH and the writing on bottom of the plastic is in German. I wasn’t able to find out too much about the company, but I think they had a lamp division at one point though they sold it more recently. In any case, it’s a confusing thing – I don’t know too much about the history of halogen bulbs, but it seems to be at odds with a pre-1980s attribution. Anyone know more about this? I thought perhaps European countries weren’t required to have polarized plugs, and it was just in the U.S. – that would explain the halogen bulb with non-polarized plug. In any case – since I’m going to use it for myself I guess it really doesn’t matter!

Happy thrifting as we move into Spring!

This post is linked up to ATG’s Thrift Share Monday and HLA’s Flea Market Finds.

Did you find something cool at a thrift or flea market lately?
Please leave a comment here if so…